1. Field of the Invention
This invention resides in the field of horizontal electrophoresis, i.e., electrophoresis performed in a horizontally oriented slab gel submerged in a liquid buffer solution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrophoresis for the separation of proteins, nucleic acids, or other charged species in biological mixtures is performed in a variety of geometries and techniques. One of these is horizontal electrophoresis, in which the process is performed in a horizontally oriented slab gel submerged in a liquid buffer solution. This is also known as “submerged gel electrophoresis” or “submarine electrophoresis.”
Submerged gel electrophoresis is commonly performed in specialized electrophoresis cells that are commercially available from various suppliers. While each cell has its own unique characteristics, the typical cell includes a tank that includes a raised platform to support the gel and a pair of elongated wells, one along each of two opposing edges of the platform, with an electrode in each well. As with all electrophoretic systems, leakage of the buffer solutions must be avoided, and the best cells are those that are readily disassembled for purposes of cleaning between runs and readily reassembled for repeated use. The present invention resides in a novel cell design that meets these needs.